Among the many tools in our kit is legal action. For individuals, much of our work is behind the scenes and intended to prevent cases from even reaching courts. To defend the First Amendment rights of…
Announcing the Humble Book Bundle: Science Fiction Manga by Nihei for Charity, Including CBLDF!
BLAME the bundle. Behold, Humble’s first epic team-up with Tsutomu Nihei and our friends at Kodansha Comics! We’ve collected some of Nihei’s most action-packed science fiction manga for your winter reading. Plus, we’re even bundling one month’s…
10 Top CBLDF Stories of 2016
As 2016 comes to a close, we look back on our 10 most-read stories of the past year… Pearls Before Swine Strip Pulled for ISIS Reference On July 27, the award-winning syndicated strip published daily in more than 750 newspapers nationwide…
14 Books CBLDF Defended in 2016
CBLDF defended more than a dozen books from challenges and bans in 2016 — some of them were challenged on multiple occasions. Here’s a snapshot of what we did to defend the freedom to read this year… This One Summer…
Happy Holidays from CBLDF!
Courtesy of CBLDF contributor and comics censorship historian Joe Sergi, we’re delighted to offer this special treat for the holidays: “A Comics Carol,” a minicomic in which Messr. Fredric Wertham…
One Million Moms Group Takes Aim at Highlights for Including LGBTQ Parents
The advocacy group One Million Moms, which has previously made news with futile boycotts of Archie and the Lucifer TV series, has a new target for its ire: Highlights magazine, the waiting room mainstay aimed…
Overwatch Digital Comic Banned in Russia for “Gay Propaganda”
Exiled Syrian Cartoonist: “Drawing is the Strongest Weapon Against the Regime”
Five years ago as the Arab Spring swept through the Middle East, Syrian political cartoonist Ali Ferzat sensed a tipping point when it became his responsibility to help “break people’s fear,” in his words. Whereas his cartoons previously relied on…
Critical Trump Painting Relocated From PA Art Exhibit
A last minute decision to move a painting explicitly criticizing president-elect Donald Trump to a smaller separate gallery during a Pennsylvania art show is raising concerns in the free speech community. The gouache painting by Brian Wiggins entitled “FUCK TRUMP” was…
CBLDF Joins Amicus Brief in Support of “The Band Who Must Not Be Named”
CBLDF has joined a basket of deplorable people and organizations on a Cato Institute-led amicus brief to the Supreme Court in Lee v. Tam, asking, “Should the government get to decide what’s a slur?” Among the deplorables who joined CBLDF…
Ahmed Naji to be Freed From Prison Pending Appeal
After serving 10 months of a two-year prison sentence for literary obscenity, Egyptian novelist Ahmed Naji is expected to be released today after an appeals court suspended his sentence over the weekend. His case is still proceeding, however, and the…
Zunar Arrested Again at Fundraising Event
For the second time in less than a month, Malaysian police arrested political cartoonist Zunar. Last month it was at an exhibition of his cartoons in Penang; this time it was a “Tea with Zunar” fundraiser, book signing, and live…
2016 Wasn’t All Bad: It Had Comics!
As we near the end of this long, hard slog of a year, there is one bright spot that should at least keep us occupied a ways into 2017: the ever-expanding complement of lists bringing together the…
How Web Comics Revolutionized Free Speech
For decades, syndicated press was virtually the only means for cartoonists to have their works published and build their readership. With a combined rise in social and political limitations, though, the internet and web comics grew to be the champion of…
After Uptick, ALA Office Now Tracking Hate Crimes in Libraries
Following a troubling rise in hate crimes and ideologically motivated book defacement in libraries, the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom announced recently that it has begun formally tracking such incidents. OIF is the office that normally tracks challenges…